"There is a huge boom in autism right now because inattentive mothers and competitive dads want an explanation for why their dumb-a-- kids can't compete academically," he writes in the tome (as excerpted by the New York Post), "so they throw money into the happy laps of shrinks to get back diagnoses that help explain away the deficiencies of their junior morons."
Oh wait, there's more
"I don't give a [bleep] what these crackerjack whack jobs tell you -- yer kid is NOT autistic," he says. "He's just stupid. Or lazy. Or both."
Now, I'm overly-offended by this due to the fact that my little brother is autistic. My parents aren't lying about that, Mr. Leary. Just because he's a bitter, cynical, man whose career is stalled so much because he's no longer relevant, doesn't mean that he has to go around making these accusations. Perhaps he should do something about getting Rescue Me's ratings up, rather than saying that a serious medical condition doesn't exist.
The Autism Society of America has taken issue with Leary and have released the following statement:
"to suggest that families or doctors conspire to falsely diagnose autism is ridiculous . . . [His] remarks reflect the same misconceptions of autism being caused by bad or unemotional parenting that were held over 50 years ago, misconceptions that have been completely disproven by the scientific community."
I wholeheartedly agree. Just goes to show you how uneducated some people. Maybe he should have done some more research on the topic before making it a whole chapter that will no doubt piss off people with more power than lil' ol' me!
I've never been a fan of Leary, and this surely doesn't make me want to see any more of his work. As a matter of fact, it makes me sorry I paid to see the Ice Age movies!
8 comments:
While it may be overused and has replaced ADD as the new hot diagnosis.
However Autistic people often have IQs that make Steven Hawking look stupid.
There is still a lot to be learned from autism and Leary while one of my favorites has definitely gone too far on this one.
Well, I have 4 autistic children and it's no fun, I'm not an incompetent mother or whatever.
That guy really made me mad a while ago and does it now again. Ugh!!
The problems these young people encounter with themselves and others are so characteristic, they can't be faked nor overdiagnosed.
I used to respect Leary, but he's proven to be the one who's a moron.
I was going to try justify it, but I can't. There's a grain of truth to what he says, there is always going to be some trendy syndrome which is diagnosed to way too many people - it doesn't make the condition completely imagined, it's just overused.
And as far as it pertains to Asperger's, I certainly have to agree to an extent... It seems these days just about every kid that doesn't fit in has Asperger's, and perhaps that's what he's trying to say.
It doesn't change the fact that what he said was pretty offensive, but keep in mind he's a guy who in the past has made substantial amounts of money simply by being offensive.
I like Leary but he's dead wrong here. If he's trying to be funny, he sure has a stupid way of doing it.
I dont even know who Dennis Leary is, so he cant be too important. As for Dr's sometimes diagnosing a child, with something that may not be true, that does occasionally happen. However, Autism, is a legitimate diagnosis with, legitimate characteristics to be diagnosed. Autistic children are not stupid, as he would know had he even done an inkling of research, they just cant communicate as well as others. Shame on Mr Leary, what was the main topic of the book anyway, that he had to go on a rant about Autism?
What a moron.
Ignorance is not funny - especially when its trumped up as anything but good ol common sense.
Clearly no one has been talking about or paying attention to Dennis "Asshole" Leary lately.
I think its a pathetic attempt to be in your face and controversial. Sad reflection on who he is that he choose such a target.
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